Rise and Fall
by Kendra Wolf
Summary: 1000 years is a long time to live. Many things can go right, but even more can go wrong. This is the story of Aethyta


Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or universe Bioware does

Summary: This started as a silly little thing when it was realized that Aethyta had been around when the Quarians ran about without masks and it got turned into this pile of angst. There will be various original characters in this story because most of them aren't born yet. Benezia will come in later chapters but this is mostly a piece focused on Aethyta. This was beta'd by my amazing fiancé.

Any feedback is welcome, hope you enjoy.

Chapter 1

There was someone watching her. While normally this wouldn't bother the Asari because she was dancing on a stage with practically no clothes on and getting paid to get stared at, this was different. Whoever it was was watching _her. _Only her. Sure she was hot, but so were all the other dancers; it was kind of part of the job description. Normally the attention was good, meant you still had what it took. This was starting to feel on the verge of being stalked, and Aethyta did not like that feeling. She might not be a hunter but she sure as hell wasn't any goddess damned prey. She tried to look out into the crowd and see who it was, while still shaking her ass, but with all the lights shining down it was hard to even make out where the stage ended never mind who was watching. So she tried to ignore it but she still felt it as she danced. She was going to write it off as just being paranoid but when she left the stage area and she felt better, she knew that there had been someone staring.

Her first thought was that she didn't want to go home, didn't want to walk out into the main floor of the club and have that creeper still be there. Her second thought was that she was being a complete dumbass. First of all, she could take any person who tried anything funny, she was part Krogan after all. Second, it wasn't like she lived in some seedy apartment building, fucking even had security there. She changed out of her stripper costume and into a slightly more modest outfit that was still just as tight but had pockets for her things, most of which she didn't carry around with her. Normally she would just head home unless one of the other girls convinced her to go somewhere but today she stayed to have a drink. In her street clothes she seemed like she was just a normal customer, though the bartender knew better. She wouldn't go so far as to call him a friend but she got along with him better than anybody else at the club... he also gave her free drinks sometimes. Tonight he wouldn't have to though.

"The usual." she said in her normal gruff voice, plopping on the stool instead of sliding on like most Asari would. While she did have the ability to be graceful, as was evident by her dancing, she had to try at it and usually put in the extra effort.

"Rough day?" Jantis asked as he started making her drink. Aethyta only responded with a groan. Part of her wanted to talk about the odd feeling she had while dancing and ask the Turian if he had noticed anyone watching her intently. She decided against it, if only because she didn't want to know the answer. Either she had a stalker or she was paranoid, both weren't very good option. A dark liquid in a clear glass was placed in front of her and she wasted no time in taking a few big chugs of the drink and putting it down. Suddenly the feeling was back and any comfort she gained from the booze was gone. She glanced up at Jantis and saw that his eyes were focused on something behind her. She saw his mandibles twitch in an amused way and she almost turned around to see what he was looking at, but stopped herself. Jantis' eyes moved and she felt someone slide into the seat beside her. The feeling was practically overwhelming and she knew that she had to look now.

The eyes moved to her right where the person was and met with a pair of glowing eyes. Suddenly she understood why she had felt like this all day; those eyes were fucking something else. They pulled her in, which was odd because she had seen Quarians before and they did have a sort of odd effect, but this was much stronger. The Quarian's face was pale and had a purple tinge to it, but was very similar in shape to an Asari's. They didn't have crests though and instead had what they called 'Hair'. It was a few shades darker then the Quarian's skin and hung by the sides of her face. In a few hundred years, when the Humans finally surfaced, she would think how the two species had similar hair, though the Quarian's hair was much thicker and coarser then Humans. At the time though, the Quarians were the only sentient species with such hair. Aethyta originally thought it was very odd, but now that she was this close she wanted to reach out and touch it, see what it felt like. Of course she wasn't going to do that: she was still a little pissed that this person had been staring at her all night.

"What are you looking at?" The Asari asked angrily, hoping to scare the other woman off and just get on with her day.

"You." the reply was curt but laced with amusement. Aethyta wasn't sure why she was a little surprised by these words, they were after all the truth. Usually people had the decency to pretend, or at least not be so incredibly blunt about it. It sounded like something she would have said. She tried not to show the shock on her face but something told her a little had come through, because the Quarian's pale lips twitched upward. She needed to fix this before it got out of hand.

"Well stop, It's fucking creepy." she said in a tone that bordered on angry then turned back to the bar to get on with her drink. Usually this pretty obvious rejection worked with half of the people who hit on her but the other half were damn stubborn, just like this Quarian.

"I didn't mean to offend," the Quarian said in her odd accent. "I was just speaking the truth."

"Doesn't make it any less creepy." Aethyta mumbled into her glass and took a big gulp, almost downing the whole thing.

"Again, apologies. I really came over to say I don't think you belong here." The Quarian said with the oddest mix of complete sincerity and amusement. The amusement probably came from how she imagined the Asari would act, and she wasn't very far off.

"What the fuck is that suppose to mean?" Aethyta demanded loudly banging her fist against the bar as she turned to face the stalker. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Jantis slip away to find a new patron to tend to. She would has glared at him if her attention wasn't already focused on something else. the Quarian was just smiling as if this just proved her point, which it pretty much did. She saw three fingered hands raise up to the sides of the Quarian's face in mock surrender, but the smile still remained.

"I mean, that while you are a...good dancer, you don't seem to like it at all." that odd accent said, and hit Aethyta's core. She knew she must have looked shocked; she was after all. No one had ever told her that before. Well, her Father had. He had wanted her to be a warrior, of course. She wanted it too, but she also couldn't stand the thought of all the rules that came with being a commando. Her mother was more willing to let her choose but she did remember words about how stripping wasn't as fun as it sounded. Still her parents had known her all her life, this Quarian didn't even fucking know her name and she knew this job wasn't meant for her? Once she realized that her mouth was almost hanging open she quickly closed it and scowled, turning away from the Quarian to look at the dancers who were still on the floor. Her eyes took on an unfocused quality and she seemed to be looking past the dancers.

"Asari are the most advanced race in the galaxy... and this is what we do?" She said after a moment. Coming back to the present she made an angry grunt and turned to the woman beside her. "We dance so people like you can get off." Her glare became more real, more threatening. While it was hard to see emotion in those glowing eyes she could tell she hit a nerve. The lithe body tightened and she straightened up even more then she had been. 'Not me,' She seemed to say, 'I'm not like them,' but Aethyta just scoffed. If she wasn't, then why was she here?

"Why do you do it? If it's below your people, why dance here?" The Quarian asked with hint of anger lingering in her words. It was a good question, one that made Aethyta want to punch something instead of answering it. When she came here it was mostly just to get out, do something else. Then she heard news of her parents fight and quickly following death and she just couldn't find the energy to leave. She wouldn't admit it but she had loved her parents. They were badass, even if they embarrassed the fuck out of her when she was a child. She knew they were gonna die eventually, but she figured it would be at least a hundred more years and it wouldn't be over some stupid war that ended forever ago.

"I don't know." She said honestly and turns back to the bar to down the rest of her drink. She could feel the tension from the Quarian fade slightly, and she wondered if that was a good enough answer then.

"What's your name?" the almost raspy voice asked next to her, gentler then before. The Asari glanced over, eyeing the Quarian for probably the tenth time since their conversation started. Part of her wanted to tell the woman to go fuck off, but she figured her name couldn't do much harm.

"Aethyta." She said, her voice taking on her normal tone. She knew she should have just left it at that and saved herself the trouble, but before she knew it words were coming from her mouth. "What's yours?" A grin broke out over the Quarian's mouth, and Aethyta felt a flutter in her stomach.

"Jani." She said, her grin unwavering. "Jani'Rantoh." Aethyta could feel her lips curving upward in the first smile of the entire day. She was going to make a comment about how the name sounded funny, even though she thought it sounded pretty, but Jani spoke first. "Let's get out of here," she said and stood up from her stool.

"And go where?" Aethyta asked with a smirk slowly grown on her face. She wasn't entirely sure where in their short conversation it happened but she was starting to like this Quarian. Maybe it was the way she really wasn't sorry for what she said (even if she apologized for the face value), or if it was just the way she smiled but Aethyta found herself standing up when a three fingered hand was help out to her.

"Somewhere with better lighting." Jani said with twinkle in her eyes, or was that the lights from the club? Either way Aethyta didn't fight when her hand was pulled towards the exit. Her mind instantly went to the gutter with Jani's intentions. This certainly wouldn't be the first time she went home with someone from the club and she knew how it went. So when the Quarian lead her to a small Park that over looked the prosidium lake she had to wonder if Jani was the one who was confused. Or maybe Aethyta had looked too far into it, it certainly wouldn't be the first time, the Asari was usually the first to make something compltely innocent sound sexual.

It might not be what she expected but it certainly was nice. They just sat there, Jani with her hands on her knees, her back only barely resting against the back of the bench. Aethyta had taken a more relaxed stance slouching, arms streched out over tyhe back of the bench and legs lazily crossed. They both glanced at each other out of the side of their vison but mostly watched the artificial star make a decent.

While Aethyta didn't mind the silence for a bit she slowly felt herself start to get nervous. She would glance at Jani more often and her leg began to bounce. Jani seemed to notice because she started smirking slightly. When Aethyta couldn't stand it anymore she spoke, feeling like she had given up in an arguement for some reason.

"So what is a Quarian doing on the Citadel?" She asked, realizing it wasn't the most polite way to say it but since when was that ever a problem.

"I'm on leave. I've never been here before so I decided to visit." Came the reply as she turned to look at Aethyta fully. Leave was it? Military? It was hard to think of this skinny little thing being military, but it would explain the posture. Aethyta tries to draw on her admitedly limited knowlege of Quarians and a question comes to her naturally.

"Did they make you take five hundred vaccinations before coming here?" She asks in a half laugh. She was a little curious though, she had heard that Quarian's were quick to catch any sort of sickness and while the Citadel was pretty clean there were just so many people here of all different races that even catching a Salarian cold would probably be almost deadly. At least according to what she heard.

"No, only one hundred and twenty three." Jani said with a miscivious smile. Aethyta didn't even try to control the laughter this time, doubling over slightly. "I'm not even joking!" She said laughing as well but in a way that made Aethyta believe she was telling the truth. That didn't stop her laughing right away though.

"Shit, that must have taken a while." The Asari said, still chuckling. She looked over at Jani, who was practically beaming at her and felt her own smile grow. "You went through all of that just to see some Asari strippers?"

"There was going to be stripping? Why didn't you tell me I would have stayed longer!" the Quarian says with a throaty laugh. Aethyta rolls her eyes at the comment but can't help but smile. Also knowing that the Quarian was probably military she didn't feel bad about reaching over and punching her shoulder. Jani cried out lightly and rubbed her shoulder but was still grinning. "Oh, cause you wouldn't have stayed then?"

"Those are my co-workers you are talking about, you ass." Aethyta said, trying to sounds angry but mostly just trying not to laugh. "I've only slept with two of them." Her serious face quickly takes on a grin. While the statement was true she didn't really feel any attachment. With one they had been pretty drunk and she doesn't even remember if it was good or not. The other was right after her parents died and she had sought comfort the only way she knew how.

"Lucky co-workers." Jani said, her tone a little lower then before but a smile still on her found herself wondering if they were still joking anymore. She knew nothing about Quarian mating or courtship she wasn't sure how... forward they were. Jani seemed pretty blunt so wouldn't she just say it if she wanted sex? Hell, just thinking about it made Aethyta want to lean forward and initiate a kiss, but she also knew she was borderline addicted. There were worse things to be addicted to, like red sand or serial killing. This is what she told herself the few times she felt hints of shame and it would fade away. She almost did just say it, would have too if it wasn't for who she was speaking too. For some reason Jani was different. Maybe it was because she was the closest Aethyta had seen an alien be to and Asari... or maybe it was just the faint glow of her eyes. What ever it was she wanted it to last, it felt pretty good, and if making it last meant not having sex right this second she supposed it could wait. it was only the sound of her Omni Tool going off that brought her out of her thoughts to realize that she had been staring at Jani, who seemed to be staring right back. Out of habit more then anything Aethyta looked at her Omni Tool to see that it was just a message from her coworker, probably asking where she went, but she ignored it and looked back at Jani. The Quarian was looking at the ground now, her face looking a shade darker then before. Aethya smirked.

"So what do you do, Jani?" Aethyta was pretty sure she knew but now she was just trying to make conversation. Jani seemed to ease a little bit at this two which was good. It was so much easier when the other party was more relaxed.

"Quarian Military," Jani said with a small laugh. She straightened and held up a Quarian salute. "Corporal Jani'Rantoh reporting for duty, Ma'am." She said, and Aethyta couldn't help but laugh.

"At ease, soldier." The Asari said with a chuckle. "What made you go and do something like that?"

"I don't know, I guess I just wanted to help people." She said with a bit of a shrug, but a hint of a smile played on her lips. "It isn't as glorious as I was hoping, but it has its moments."

"At least you are in the right profession." Aethyta said a smirk starting to grow on her face. "All I do is help turn people on with my amazing ass." She laughed and Jani laughed as well and it made her feel a little better about the truth.

"That is a certain kind of helping." Jani said with a wink as the laughter died.

"Not what I was planning to do with my life but it makes pretty good money." She hadn't meant to say that and she regretted it as soon as she saw the look in Jani's eyes change.

"What did you want to do?" She asked and Aethyta felt the urge to tell her to fuck off. She would have, too, to anyone else. But she was starting to like this Quarian, for reasons she still couldn't really explain. While it went against her better judgment she decided answering the question wasn't going to do her any harm, but she wasn't going to be happy about it.

"Fight." She let out with a sigh, looking out over the waters again. "My dad was a Krogan, and he would always tell me about all these crazy things he did in the Rachni wars. I would picture myself there with him. I almost joined the military, until I realized I was gonna be everyone's bitch for a hundred years." She rolled her eyes as she remembered the stories her mom told her about commando life, sounded dumb as hell.

"So... you started ...dancing?" Jani asked, obviously having trouble forming a connection.

"No...Well, yes, but it was complicated." Aethyta said with a bit of a chuckle. "I mentioned getting work, fighting work in some other way, and my mother literally jumped down my throat. Said if I was even thinking about joining a gang she would kick my ass, and kill me if I actually did it. Damn, I was scared of her too. I wouldn't tell her though so I just came here and started dancing. Sort of meant as a 'Fuck you!' but kept her from trying to stick her foot up my ass. I just sort of ended up staying though, even after they died." A pause follows and Aethyta realizes she said a little too much.

"How did they die?" Jani asked after a moment.

"They killed each other." She could see the question popping in Jani's surprised eyes and figured she might as well get it all out now. "They fought in the Krogan Rebellions, opposite sides of course. When Dad found out his _honor_ wouldn't let him just let it go. I'm pretty sure they weren't intending for both of them to die but..." She shrugged.

"I'm sorry." Jani said

"It's not a big deal." Aethyta said and turned her head away. She felt two soft and surprisingly warm fingers on her face which turned her head back to face Jani. She flinched back a little because Jani had moved much closer to her, and her face was only a few centimeters from her own. The fingers on her face didn't let her move very far and Aethyta found herself staring into a pair of glowing purple eyes and she felt her heart speed up.

"I am sorry, Aethyta." Jani said in her odd accent, in a formal way that she was pretty sure her Translator couldn't possible fully comprehend. While she might not fully understand, she couldn't help but feel that this was a big deal, that Jani had told her something important. Her hand came up to remove the Quarian's hand but ended up just resting over it. Goddess, she felt like an idiot.

"It's okay..." She responded lamely, and didn't even really mean it. It wasn't okay, it was messed up. but she was still here and Jani was here too and she could almost feel the soldier's breath on her lips. Her eyes flitted down to those lips and Jani's forked tongue peaked out to wet it, probably more reflex then seduction but Goddess it shot a feeling of need down her spine and before she knew it she was leaning in, taking those lips with her own. The hand on her cheek moved to the back of her neck and she leaned in further, pulling Jani's body tight up against her. When they broke apart they were both breathing heavily, lust clear in their eyes. Aethyta was not done, and she was tempted to finish this right here but if C-Sec found them it would all get ruined... and they were still completely in the open public area, probably getting a few stares as it was.

"Come to my place?" She asked, her already husky voice almost a growl as she brought a hand to trail down Jani's face, as if she needed convicing.

"I thought you'd never ask..."

Mind melding was something that came naturally to Aethyta. She didn't know if it was something you could be 'good' at but she had never had trouble with it, even as a child she used to probe her parents minds to try and find out what they had gotten her for her birthday. It had gotten to the point where her father just stopped being involved in the gift getting so she would have at least one surprise. As she grew older and started using her melding for far more inappropriate things she was much better at navigating through her partners mental barriers then others. While she normally would just begin the process with only a vague warning for her partner but with Jani it was different. While she wanted to meld with Jani, more then she really felt comfortable with; she also didn't want to scare Jani away. The Quarian said she had wanted to know what it was like even seemed excited but Aethyta had more than a few people she had melded with freak out on her at the start. Jani might be different but some things were just alien no matter how much they were able to look past it.

"Embrace Eternity..." She whispered and she stares deeply into Jani's odd but amazing eyes. She starts slow, only lightly touching the edge of Jani's consious. She hears the Quarian gasp and starts to pull away but a larger hand grabs her wrist keeping her hand where it's at.

"No," Aethyta heard physically as well as whispers in her mind from their tentative connection, "No don't stop. I was just...surprised." The Asari still seemed to hesitate, not wanting to push Jani too far. She realized this thought was ridiculous since Jani had really instigated this whole thing and the Quarian was a consenting adult. The hand on her wrist moved to her cheek and pulled her down into a kiss. The kiss was gentle and slow at first but it quickly grew in passion. More instinctively then anything Aethyta began delving into Jani's mind. Her lover only put up the resistance that was expected of someone who had never done this before but Jani seems to be a quick learner and before she knows it their minds were joined completely like they were always meant to. Normally Aethyta would use this to help pleasure her partner and the other way around, there would be time for that later though and now she was more interesting in learning about Jani, her Jani. She didn't go deep, she was a little scared of what would find there but flitted around the upper layers of Jani's mind. Current feelings, recent memories all came flooding into her mind and while she wasn't surprised they mostly seemed to revolve around her she certainly was pleased with it.

When she felt something touching her own mind it was her turn to gasp. It was a little clumsy but as Jani grew more confident her mind caught on. While a mental barrier went up without thinking Aethya let it fall and they shared each other's thoughts. She had done this dozens of times before but now it felt different. She wasn't sure if she could explain it but it felt better with Jani. Part of her knew what it was, she had heard about it in vids and from her friends and family but she never thought she would ever feel it. Unfortunately her thoughts weren't completely her own anymore and she felt Jani's amusement followed quickly by wave of happiness. While she felt a mild annoyance, her eyes even rolled, she didn't take the thought back. Instead she just gave Jani more of herself, physically and mentally.

That night Aethyta finally understood what people had meant when they said making love. While it wasn't the most interesting sex she had ever had it still was the best. She wondered if it was cause she was just really into quarians and didn't know it or if her fucking feelings. While she really wished it was the first she wasn't an idiot. That didn't mean she had to admit it though, and Jani quickly got a little _too_ good at searching her mind in their melds. They spent the next 24 hours in bed, and probably would have stayed their longer except Aethyta had to work. She was just going to call off but Jani talked her into going by stating she would like to watch Aethyta dance again. So Aethyta went to work, danced and Jani watched. The constant eyes on her were still a bit unnerving but all the creepy crawly feelings were gone and were replaced by something she could only describe as excitement. It was probably the longest work day she had ever experienced. At the same time it was probably the most fun she had ever had dancing too. She would make eye contact with the Quarian whenever she could but she was still dancing. She made it a sort of game with herself, how long could she dance before she wanted to see Jani's reaction. She usually didn't last very long and when ever their eyes did meet it just made her wish her shift was over. The shift did end eventually and when it did she didn't even change out of her 'uniform' before jumping off the stage and pinning Jani against the bar and kissing her like her life depended on it.

They continued like this for the next few days, Aethya working when she had too, but spending the rest of the time locked up in her apartment. They didn't have sex all the time (although it was very often) and would just lay in bed and talk. While melding made talking.. inadequate at times she liked hearing Jani talk. She had even gotten Jani to sing a little, only cause she sang something herself. To outsiders neither probably sounded very good, but to each other they were perfect. Eventually Jani convinced Aethyta to go on a date of sorts. The maiden only did so because she knew that Jani had come here on her leave to actually see the citadel and she would feel guilty if she didn't let her see more of it then just the club, her apartment and the inside of a skycar between the two. They went to a few restaurants, saw a few shows, took a few walks but they always ended up back in one of their rooms, if they waited that long to tear each other's clothes off. She felt like they were fucking newlyweds, and honestly she didn't really mind.

It was the sixth day Aeytha did something she would grow to regret for the rest of her long life. They were on Jani's bed, sitting facing each other, clothes scattered around the room. They had already made love once already and their meld had never really stopped. Aethyta wasn't complaining, melding was one of the most amazing things she had ever experienced and with Jani it was just better, like they were already synced up before the meld and joining just intensified it. They were gently caressing each other's minds and Jani sent her a beautiful picture of her family, parents and younger sister playing a Quarian game outside their house on Rannoch. It was beautiful and she felt Jani's desire to have Aethyta meet her family and it moved the Asari so much she did something she had never done before. She began mapping the Quarian's genes. She almost didn't realize what was happening until Jani gripped her so tightly that it hurt a little. She quickly realized that Jani was confused and Aethya pulled out of the meld quickly, pulling back physically to keep it broken. Jani blinked, still in a daze from what was happening and Aethyta tried her best to still her heart which was hammering away. Why had she done that? Was she fucking nuts! She was only 132, what the fuck was she going to do with a kid?

"What...What was that?" Jani asked, her voice soft and her eyes still unfocused. Aethyta just stared at the Quarian still trying to figure out why she had done that. She liked Jani, sure, maybe even loved her if she let herselfbelieve it, but she hadn't even known Jani for a week and she wanted to have her fucking kids! A three fingered hand on her knee brought her back out of her thoughts and she quickly shook her head.

"It's nothing, I just dove to deep." Aethyta said only partially lying. Jani's eyes quickly grew sharp and the marine pulled back her fist and swiftly hit Aethyta in her shoulder. "Ow! What the hell?" the dancer yelped glaring at the Quarian.

"Don't lie to me Aethyta! You aren't very good at it." Jani says in an angry tone Aethyta hasn't heard from her before. Her glare just grows and she opens her mouth to say something mean but Jani only raised her fist again, raising an eyebrow as if to say 'Really? We could do this all night or you could tell me the truth' Arthyta let out an indignant huff but a smile played at her lips, she knew she liked Jani for a reason.

"Do you know anything about how Asari reproduce?" Aethyta asked, feeling her body start to relax again from her scare.

"Basics, you use the melding to get genes from the other parent." Jani said, lowering her fist and starting to see where this was going. Aethyta knew she could have explained it better than Jani had, but decided it wasn't really the time; she had the basic jist of it.

"Well, I started to do that, to 'map' your genes." Aethyta said with a sigh, rubbing where she had been hit, feeling an odd awkwardness starting to build up. She hadn't been planning to have a conversation like this any time soon.

"Why did you stop?" Jani asked honestly and Aethyta coughed on the air she was breathing and just stared at her lover.

"I'm only 132 years old!" She stated, thinking it would be enough. She saw the Quarian start to object but she held up her hand to stop any argument. "That's like 13 years old for you. I'm not going to have a kid."

"If you didn't want a child why did you try?" Jani asked, her head tilting only the slightest bit but Aethyta couldn't help but think about how cute it looked. Unfortunately no matter how cute the Quarian looked it didn't help her answer the question.

"I don't know it sort of just felt..." She started but stopped before she said something that would only dig her in a deeper hole. How the hell to explain this without bringing feelings into it? Although they were a bit beyond that point now. "It was instinctive. Normally I would just go with it but this is a little different." She thought she was going to be okay until Jani frowned.

"Do you not want to have a baby with me?" The Quarian asked in her odd accent and Aethyta felt her brow crease and raised her hand to bring it down over her face, exasperated. She had to stop herself from just reaching out and just melding with Jani to prove her point. She would have too if she wasn't worried about what other things she might share as well.

"No, Jani, it's not like that." Aethyta said with a sigh and brought her hand down from her face. "I mean I've known you for less then a week. but the real thing is I don't want to have a kid. Got nothing to do with you and your genes."

"So... If I waited a few months and asked again you might change your mind?" Jani said with a grin that rivaled any Aethyta had ever seen before. She couldn't help but return the smile even though she didn't think she would be any more ready than she was now.

"Maybe, but don't count on it." The Asari said in a sarcastic tone but it seemed to make Jani happy because the Quarian was back in her lap and kissing her fiercely.

"You didn't say no, I'm taking that as a good sign." She said huskily between kisses as she pushed Aethyta back down onto the bed. During the meld Jani kept sending her images of the two of them with a little blue child between them. While Aethyta swatted her more then once she couldn't help but laughing. While they started as jokes Aethyta could tell that Jani actually seemed to like the idea. Now it certainly wouldn't be the first time an Asari and her partner decided to have a family after only being together for a short while and Aethyta liked Jani, she really did, but she couldn't see herself being a mom... not ever really. Still... the more Jani showed her the images the more she seemed to think that it didn't look half bad. Still she didn't try it again, they had a long time before they would need to think about that.

A few days after that Jani's leave ended. Aethyta didn't want to see her off, in fact they had a small argument about it but in the end she showed up in the docking bay. She kissed Jani heatedly hoping that it would have made the Quarian stay but of course it didn't and Jani walked onto the shuttle with a sad smile. She stayed to watch it leave (she had told Jani she wouldn't but she couldn't see) and even after she couldn't see the ship anymore. Just when she finally decided to leave her Omni Tool beeped. A message from Jani. It was simple, and far to sweet.

_Wait for me._

Bitch didn't even pretend to make it like a question. Still Aethyta felt her lips twitch up into a smile that continued to grow even as she typed a response.

_Fine._

And she did wait, she still danced of course but she didn't go home with anybody, didn't even kiss anybody. She flirted, but really, who didn't? Of course they talked when they were free; did some things more then talking over the com some nights. Still, it wasn't the same and Aethyta missed the Quarian, more then she thought she would. It was a little unnerving but it also felt nice to know there was someone who actually seemed to care. She was half a galaxy away, but she cared. Besides whenever they did get to see each other again the sex would be fucking amazing.

Then one day she didn't get a message. She knew something was wrong because Jani never failed to at least send her something, even if it was simple good night. She was able to shrug it off at first because Jani technically was working and something probably just came up. The worry didn't start to creep in until the end of the second day without any word from the Quarian. By the third day, she was sending semi frantic messages while scouring the extranet for _anything_ that would answer her questions. Unfortunately the Quarian Military wasn't really a hot topic for the news networks. On the fourth day she got a message. At first she didn't even open it because it was from an address she didn't recognize, but after a few hours and a few drinks she opened it.

_We regret to inform you..._

Aethyta couldn't read anymore. She pushed the glass she had been using aside and just grabbed the bottle. Jantis tried to object but she just glared at him and he held his talons up in surrender and took a step away. She had a feeling he was going to be hovering around her all night but she didn't care as long as he let her be. The rest of the night became a blur, she continued to drink, thinking of anything and everything else but the slow ache that was starting to eat away at her. She vaguely remembered head butting someone and getting thrown out of the club by a C-sec officer. She probably shouldn't have walked home but she did, throwing up a few times along the way. By the time she made it to her sector she was starting to remember things. She would have to fix that once she was home, she had a few bottle stowed away for moments like this. She almost fell asleep on the elevator ride up, but the ding was loud and snapped her out of her stupor enough to push her into the hallway. She messed with her Omni Tool, trying to unlock her room and looked up when she almost ran into a Quarian. She froze where she stood. It wasn't Jani, first off it was male so there was that. He turned to look at her and a look of relief seemed appear on his face, but it was hard to see with her vision blurry.

"Ma'am, are you Aethyta-" he started politely but was quickly cut off

"Yeah, what do you want?" She snapped, quickly moving past him and to her door. The Quarian seems a bit flustered by her reaction but quickly recovers.

"Ma'am you were recently sent a message."

"I didn't read it after I-" She almost slurred as she tried to open her door. After a few seconds of trying, she let out a frustrated yell and banged her head against the door and stilled. For a moment nothing happened but she felt a hand on her shoulder. She shook it off with a sort of growl, then worked on her door again and finally opened it. She stepped past the portal, and thought about closing it, but turned around instead to face the stranger. "What are you here for?" She asked coldly. His posture straightened, hands going to his sides. Military.

"I'm here to give you something on the behalf of Jani'Rantoh vas Soltah." His words are crisp, almost practiced. Part of her wondered if he had even known Jani or if he was just a random soldier sent here. It pissed her off more.

"She had family, aren't they supposed to get that shit?" she stated even though it was technically a question. The Quarian shook his head.

"They do, but this she requested to be sent to you." He said evenly. His hand moved and Aethyta glanced down at it to see he was holding something out to her. It took her a moment to realize that they were ident tags. She felt a lump form in her throat but she swallowed it away, or tried to anyway. She hesitated but slowly held out her hand and the Marine dropped the tags into her waiting palm. For some stupid reason she had been expecting them to be warm like Jani and she flinched when they were cold. That lump in her throat only grew as they got even colder, whatever residual heat the gained from the male Quarian's hand fading.

"Fuck..." She muttered to herself and she feels the need to sit down. Instead she locks her knees and clenches her fist around the tags. She couldn't do this anymore; she just wanted to be alone. "Is that all?" she croaked out, not even looking up at her messenger.

"Yes Ma'am." He said solemnly. At hearing that Aethyta stepped back into he room and closed the door on him, she only heard a part of his complaint before the door shut completely and cut off whatever he was going to say. Here, alone in her room she let the few walls she had fall down. Her trembling fist turning in to full body shaking, wisps of biotic energy rolling off her. The tags dug into her palms as she fist clenched.

She had promised herself she wouldn't get worked up when someone died. When her parents had killed each other it had hurt, more then she had expected it to. She had loved her parents, obviously, even if they were embarrassing as hell sometimes. But she always knew she was going to outlive them. And yeah, 132 years was a little young to lose your mother and father, but it was understandable. It should have been the same with Jani. Hell, she was only Quarian, they would have gotten 60 years if they were lucky. But a week? That was just cruel. She reached out for the closest object, a lamp, and let out a scream as she threw it across the room. She watched as it shattered against the wall. Normally breaking something made her feel a little better, but this time she felt no relief, in fact it made her even angrier. Her biotics flared and she threw the whole dresser the lamp had been on in a similar arc. Still, it didn't help. She felt something wet fall down her face. She reached up and felt it trailing down her cheek. She pulled her hand away and looked at her fingers and saw clear tears. A sob escaped her as she realized she was crying. It pissed her off even more, but she only managed to punch the wall once before her knees gave out from under her. She weakly thumped her fist against the wall as she sobbed quietly. Goddess, it wasn't fair! A week? One fucking week together? They could have had eternity, but she had screwed that up too.

As she sat there, she tried to search her memory for the time she had almost gone to far, hoping she would find something, _anything_ from Jani that she could use. There was nothing... she had pulled back too fast, too scared of what it meant. Now she would give anything to have any little bit of genetic code. It wouldn't have mattered. The young Aethyta couldn't have known this was coming, and even when she was older she would still wish she hadn't been just a terrified kid about it.

She spent the night on the floor crying and sleeping when her body let her. When she woke she packed a few things she cared about and left the Citidel, heading for Thessia and a hopefully meaningful existence.


End file.
